Apparatus for casting metal



Aug. l6, 1938.

F. W. HARBORD ET AL APPARA'IUS FOR GASTING METAL Filed Sept. 24,

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mag. l, 193& F. w. HARBORD ET AI. 2127407 APPARATUS FORCASTING METAL Filed Sept. 24. 1936 3 Sheets-Shee; 2

F. w. HARBORD ET AL 2127407 APPARATUS FOR GASTING VMETAL Filed Sept. 24,1936 3 S heets-Shee s Patented Aug. 16, 1938 APPARATUS FOR CASTING METALFrank William Harbord am! Vernon Harbord, London, England ApplieationSeptember 24, 1936, Serial N0. 102,435 In Great Britain October 9, 193510 Claim's.

This invention relates,- 170 apparatus for the direct production frommo1ten metal of billets, slabs bars, and the like in forms suitable foruse, and it has some features particularly usefu1 when the metal is anon-ferrous alloy; the invention has other features which apply moreespecially steel, and which have for their object the avoidance ofcostly reheating and rolling of large rectangular ingots in Order toform the sections required.

Such apparatus, as described for example in the specifications of our p1i0r Patent N05. 1,891813 and 1928,562 usually comprises at least twomembers which co-operate to enclose a mould cavity and of which at leastone is propelled longi tudinally so that as molten metal poured into thecavity solidifies the billet thus formed is moved away from the castingpoint, causing continuously the formation of fresh mould cavity ab thecasting point.

The mould oavity may be in both members er in one only, and. it may bein a fixed member or in a moving member or in both. A moving member maybe rigid, as for example a long straight member moved in one path or acircular ring revolving around a vertical 01 horizontal axis or again itmay be articulated and form an endless chain of rigid segments, or itmay be a band of sheet metal thin enough to Dass continuously roundfavolving cylinders or cone's. The tWo members may be moving a.t thesame or a.t different speeds. v

T0 ensure the prodnotion of satisfactory bil1ets it is necessary thatthe joints between thia cooperating members shall be ti'ght ;against theentry of a fin of molten metal, and in some cases pressure has beenapllied to one member by weights 01 springs which is resisted by theultimate supports of the other.

A ccoroling to one feature of the present invention a, force is exerted.upon one such member tending -110 press it on to its co operating'member, and acting across the Surface of the joints between them byresilient ineans przassing one Way upon one member and the opposite Wayupon an abutment or counter support, ar1d the reaction upon thisabutment is transferred to one or more parts acting directly u'pon theco-operating member or upon a support Which has no motion relatively 110this member. This transference of the abutrnent 1"eaction to the mouldmembers may be efiected by a 1ink Whose ends act upon the abutmerit and.member directly or through levers as may be convenient.

In certxin ca'ses particularly when two cooperating members hereinaftercalled the m'ou1d and cover are arranged to move a1; the same speed,they may be allowed to be in close contaot with one another; in othercases when there is relative ,S1iding of one over 1:he other we mayreduce friction and wear by using restraining means adapted limit theapproach of one the other to within a clearance sufliciently fine toprevent the entry of molten metal.

Acoording 120 another feature of the invention the mould anti cover arearranged 110 be held in effective relation with each other by means off1uid pressure loading means throughout that part of them in which themould cavity is c1osed by the cover.

According t'o another feature of the invention the mould eavity isformed in a stationary upper member hereinaftercalled the mould and. Ehecavity is closed by a, long or Continuous closing member, which iscaused to travel paso the mould which, being stationary can convenientlybe water jacketed. Three water-cooled sides of a mould of rectangularsection, are thus enabled to have fresh molten metal continually passingover them near the castirig point, and the rate a1; which they cool thecasting compared with that of a single water-cooled -cover isproportionately rapid; Each part of the travelling closing member of theoavity is in contact only momentarily with molten metal as this entersthe cavity and in cases in which the closing member is formed by a chainof segments, it may be coolecl during its return passage between theoutlet end of the mould and the casting point in any convenient; manner,as for example, by air o1 by immersion in water.

The jacket of the mould may be divided transversely into owo or moreseparate sections each having its own inlet and outlet, and eaeh in1etmay be arranged to be supplied with a circulating medium ab asuitabletemperature, for example, water, oi1, superheated steam or gas, so thatth e billet during its solidification es its passes through the mouldcan be subjectedto controlled cooling and the crystalline structure ofthe meta1 can be thereby modified. and controlled 130 a considerableextent.

The mould calvlty being closed as described by a closing member movinglongitudinally past the two horizontal bearing surfaces ab the edges ofthe stationary mould it is important to ensure that the closing membershall make close contact, o1 nearly so, With the inner edges of thesebearing surfaces, anti sha1l not be prevented from so doing by ear1iercontact With the outer edges which might ca.use a Wedge-shaped gap intowhich molten metal could enter. For this purpose the mould and closingmember are arranged to be pressed together by forces acting so thateither the mould or the closing member, er both tend 130 be deflected incr0ss section more toward the centre of the cavity than at its sideseach tending to present a convex surface 130 the other, With the resultthat contact between them begins ab the bearing edges next the cavityandthe mo1ten metal. Thus where the surface of the closing The inventionis illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings of WhichFigure 1 is a view in vertical cross-section of the mould elements andtheir associated parts of apparatus embodying one form of the inventionFigure 2 being a view in sectional elevation of the mechanism shown inFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 of the portion of the mechanismadjacent to the Casting point of ehe apparatus.

Figures 4 to 12 inclusive illustrate another form of the invention,Figures 4 and 5 being views thereof in side elevation and p1anrespectiveiy.

Figure 6 is a view in vertical cross-section on an en1argtd scale of themechanism Shown in Figures4 and 5, Figure 7 being a view of a portionthereof in sectional elevation.

Figure 8 is a p1an view of a portion of the mechanism of Figures '7Figures 9 and 10 being sectional views of certain details ofconstruction.

Fig'ures 11 and 12 are views invertical crosssection and sectional planrespectively of a modified construdtion of a portion of the mechanisnishown in Figures 6, 7 and 8.

Referring novv first to Figures 1 and 2 it Will be seen that themoulding inechanism illustrated comprises an inverted mould member Iprovided with a flexible water-jaeket 2 and mourited upon the upperedges 3 of supporting frames 4. Surrounding the vvater-jacket 2 andsecured at their lower ends the mould I, sectional pressure members 5are provided and interposed between the members 5 and an upper abutmentframe 6 is a flexible tube I to which air under pressure is arranged tobe supplied. The frame 6 and the lovver frames 4 are arranged. to benormally mechanically coupled to each other by a nurnber of sets ofstirrup levers 8 arranged at suitable intervals along the 1ength 01 themould I, the upper ends of these levers being mounted in the frame 6 andtheir 1ower hooked ends 9 engaging With lugs II] attached to the lowerframes 4. The upper arrns of each pair of levers 8 are connected. asindicated a.t II to a spring-controlled plunger I2.

Each of the plungers I2 is connected to an operating cable I3 and itwill be understood that by exerting a pull on the cables I3 after thecompressed air has been released from the tube I, the levers 8 will bemoved into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 in which111%;s I4 on the sides of the pressure members 5 enter openings I5 inthe levers 8. The continued pu1l exerted upon the cables I3 will thenraise the mould I clear of the frames 9.

The lower end of the mould cavity in the mould I is closed by a chain ofsegrnents I6 guided transversely between the lovver frames 4 andsupported upon adjustable rollers I'I,the supporting spindles I8 ofWhich are 'arranged to be adjusted vertically so as to cause eachsegment I6 to be in contact with the bearing surfaces I9 of the mould Ior to be separated there-' from by any desired c'learance. Thisadjustment In cases in which the closing member is v is renderedpossible by providing each of the spindles I8 with eccentric journals 20by means of which the spind1e is rotatably mounted in plates 21 securedso the frames 4 by means of bolts 22, one end of the spindle I8 beingsecured to a quadrant member 23. It will be evident that by looseningthe holt 22 and rotating the quadrant member 23 the corresponding rollerI'I can be raised or lowered as desired so as accurately determine theposition of each of the segments I6 relative to I;he mould I whilepassing over the roller. The quadrant members 23 after adjustment areagain locked in position by tightening the bolts 22 which, as shown inFigures 1 and 2, are arranged alternately on opposite sides of theapparatus. The spindles I8 of the rollers I? are each provided With alubricating device 24.

The Segments I6 are of the cross-sectiona] Term shown in Figure 1, whichprovides great rigidity and cooling surface and enables the seg-- mentsto be supported upon the rollers I'I as closely as possible 110 themould I. The upper surface of each segment I6 is provided with ribs 25for guiding the segment laterally relative to the mould I and I;heabutting ends of the segments are arranged on1y to engage With oneanother adjacent to the upper faces of the segments, as shown in Figure2, so as so ensure close contact the lower portions of the opposing endsof the segments being sloped away from each other as indicated at 26. Aportion of each end of each segment I6 is however provided With aprojection 2'I' for prolonging the support of the segment in passingover a roller I7. The chain of segments I6 is arranged to be caused totravel past the mould I by any suitable mechanism for this purpose.

II: Will be observed that I;he downward pressure on the mould I due tothe compressed air in the taube I is exerted between the upper edges 3of the supporting frames 4 so that any transverse defiection ordistortion of the mould I due to this pressure will tend to cause theinner edges of the bearing surfaces I9 of the mould to engage closelywith the upper faces of the segments I6 and thus efiectively to seal themould cavity.

Referring now to Figure 3 the pouring box 28. through which the mo1tenmetal is introduced into the moulding cavity, is provided with a. spoutmember 29 adapted to fit closely within the coned end 30 of the mould Iand to be pressed downwards into close engagement with the segments I6during their travel, this being effected by a suitable spring-controlledor other mechanism not shown.

In starting the apparatus into operation the end of the mould cavityadjacent to the pouring box 28 is first closed by means of a plug member3I provided with a screw-thread recess 32 and adapted to s1idelongitudinally within the mould I. The plug member 3I is connected at;its front end to a member 33 by means of a spring 34 secured at its endsto the members 3I and 33 and the latter member is connected to one endof a rod 35, the opposite end of which is connected to a cross-head 36adapted to be engaged. by the forward ends of the guic1e ribs 25 of asegment I6 ahead of the plug member end of the mould I, as shown at theright-hand. side of Figure 3.

The molten metal is introduced into the pouring box 28 and flows throughthe spout member 29 into the portion of the mould cavity in the mould Iin freut of the plug member 3!, the air contained in this portion of themould cavity escaping through one or more holes 3'! formen! in the p1ugmember 3!. The mo-lten metal enters the reoess 32 in the plug member 3!and solidifying therein, keys the forward end of the comtinuous billetformed in the mould oavity to the plug member 3! The chain of segments!6 is set into motion so as to travel past the mould from left 110 rightas viewed in Figures 2 and 3, and the billet formed in the mould oavityby the molten metal continuously supplied through the pouring box 28 iscarried forwarcl by the movement of the plug member 3! under the actionof the crossl1ead 30. The billet contracts in cooling and thiscontraction is permitted by the spring 34.

The forward movement of the cast bil1et effected loy the plug member 3!is assisted. by the frictional engagement of the base cf the billet Withthe segments !5 the upper faces of which, if desired, may be providedWith serrations enabling the segme'nts to grip the billet. As shown inFigure 3 the extreme upper ends of one of the opposing ends of eachsegment is slightly bevelled as indicated at 30 for this purpose, and.this arrangement is usually found in practice to be suflicient forensuring a satisfactory forward movement of the billet.

Referring now to the apparatus shown in Figures 4 to 12 inclusive itwill be seen that the mould oavity is in this form of the inventionnonstituted by an annular recess or channel 39 formed. in the upper faceof an annular mould member 40 of relatively large diameter mounted upona turn-table 4! adapted to be rotated in a horizontal plane about avertical pivot by any Suitable mechanism (not shown). The turntable 4!is supported adjacent to its periphery bv rollers 42 rotatably mountedupon fixed nivots 43, the axes of whioh are slightly inclined so as tointersect the plane 01 the lower face 44 of the turn-table at the axisof the pivot of the turntab!e thus ensuring that any distortion of theturn-table due to temperature variations shall not cause the turn-tableto be raised or lowered The mould cavity 39 is olosed at its upper endby a non-rotating cover 45 formed in a n .1mber f relatively shortcurved sections each having unwardly turned lateral flanges 45.ad.iaoent sections of the oover 45 abutting a;zainst one anothe1* atc.vlindrioallv slidin;r .1'0ints as indioated at 4'! in Figure 8. Eachsection of the oover 45 is nrovided with a water-iacket enclosed betweenthe flan2es 46 and a sheet metal or fabrio co-verim: 48 which at one.end 0f the cover section extends into a hollow castinsr 49 movided withinlet and outlet pipe connections 50 fo1 the coolinsz water.

Arranged above and enclosine the coverine, 48 are a pair of pressuremembers for each oover secon. the l0wer edges of the members 5!projecting within grooves 52 formed in the upper face of the mouldmember 40. The pressure member3 5! are provided with lugs 53 engaging inoorresponding holes in Ushaped clip members 54, which are adjustablysupported by means of screws 55 upon a transverse bar 56 provided ateach end. with a rotatab1e roller or runner 51. The rollers 5'! arecarried on the. upper face of the mould member 40 and it will be evidentthat by suitably adjusting the screws 55 the clearance between the cover45 and the mould member 40 during the rotation of the mould member canbe bers 6! being interposed between the lovver channel member 59 and thepressure members 5! The upper (ihannel member 58 is secured at intervalsin its length to cross-bars 62 each of Which is attached at each end ashereinafter described, to the upper part of a triangular frame 03provided with rollers or runners 64 adapted to roll on tracks 05 formedon the mould member 40. The several frames !i3on each side are pivotallyconnected together as indicated at 65 in Figure 4, and. the upper end ofeach frame 63 is pivotally connected to the corrcesponding end of thecross-bar 62, as indicated at 61 in Figure 6. A cross-bar 68 isprovicled adapted to engage at each end with projecting lugs or arms 59on the frames 63, the cross-bar 08 being adapted to be raiseo'! Whendesired. by means of a cable '!0. It will be Seen that by releasingoompressed air from the tube 60 and exerting a pull on the cables !0 thecross-bar 68 can be rnoved upwards and by its engagement with the lugs69 will effect the outward movement of the frames 63 about their pivots5'! to the positions shown in dotted lines in Figure 6, whereupon therollers 64 being thus movecl clear of the tracks 65 on the mould member40, the cover member 45 and its associated parts can be raised from themould member 40 by means of the cables 10.

In order to protect the turn-table 4! from the heatiad mould member 40so as to maintain the turn-table at as W and uniform a temperature aspossible, the turn-table 4! and the mould member 40 are separatedfromeach other by spacing members l!, a screen 12 of asbestos o1 othersuitable thermal insulating material being also provided. for the samepurpose. Relative movement in the vertial direction between the mouldmember 40 anclthe turn-table 4! is pre- Ventecl by stud bolts 73 securedto the member 40 and traversing the sfiacing members 1! the lower enolsof the bolts 13 passing with considerable clearance throughcorresponding holes 14 in the turn-table 4!.

The driving oonnection between the turn-table 4! and the mould member 40is effeoted by a single pait of driving pins arranged a1: opposite endsof a diameter of the turn-table one of these plus as shown at in Figure9 fitting relatively closely in all directions in a corresponding recess16 in the turn-table 4! and in a recess formed in a boss '!8 on themould member 40. The other pin '!9, as shown m Figure 10, fits oloselywithin a recess 80 in the turn-table 4! the 11pper end of this pin beingprovided with a head o-r ro1ler 8! fitting Within areoess 02 in a boss83 formed. on the mould member 40, the recess 82 being elongated in thedirection of the diametral line joining the axes of the pins 15 and 79so as to permit expansion 01' contraction of themould member 40 in aradial direction In operation it will be understood that as th mouldmember 40 containing the mould cavity 39 is caused to travel past thecover member 45 by the rotation of the t urn-table 4! the cover member45 is maintained in suitably close relation to the mould member 40 bythe pressure due tothe compressed air in the tube 60 and since thepressure thus exerted. tending to cause the members 40 and 45 toapproach each other istransmitted through the frames 63, this pressureis balanced so that there is no external reaction. Furtherrnore theadjustable clips 54 enable any desired clearance between the mouldmember 40 and the cover member 45 to be established and maintained withgreat precision while the full air pressure is available 130 oppose anyincrease of this clearance.

Referring now to Figures 11 and 12 an alternative construction of thecover member is illustrated comprising modified water-coolingarrangements.

The cover member 45 in this construction comprises a casting providedwith a number of internal channels or passages 84 extending transverselyacross the member. At each side cf the member 45 the passages 84 arearranged to communicate with one another through cavities 85 formed incastings 86 which are secured to the member 45 by bolts 81 and spacingmembers 88, the castings 86 being provided with pipe connections 89 forthe cooling water.

It Will be seen that the water is thus caused to flow in a sinuous paththrough the cover memher 45 thereby effectively cooling this memberduring the operation of the apparatus.

According to another' arrangement a water jacket is so arranged. andattached to the cover that the use of Water under pressure tends todeflect the cover towards the mould cavity as desired.

According to' another arrangement the two mould surfaces next the coverare not in one plane but are sloped so that the cover and mould havepractically line contact on each eclge of the mould cavity, and thecover is kept substantially flat on the face next the molten meta1 bythe use of a rigid water jacket attached. to it so as to resist itsdistortion in c1oss section.

It Will be understood that the invention is not limited to theparticular constructional forms 01' arrangements of the cooperatingmould members and the various devices associated therewith which havebeen illustrated and described and various modifications in these andother respects may evidently be made without exceeding the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for casting metal comprising a frame, at least one mouldelement carried by said frame, at least one counter mould element, saidmould elements and counter mould elements being shaped and arranged toform a piece of a mould having a substantially cylindrical cavity of anycross-section when abutting against each other on a longitudinalsurface, means for moving the said munter mould elements in an axialdirection relative to the said mould elements, counter support meansarranged at the rear of the counter mould elements, resilient meanssupporting against the said counter mould elements on the one band andagainst the said counter support means on the other hand so as to pressthe counter mould elements against the mould elements, and connectingmembers flexibly comnected ab their upper ends to said counter supportmeans and arranged to straddle the mould elements on both sides of themould cavity for transferring without substantially bending stress theforce exerted by the said resilient means from said counter supportmeans to said mould elements.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the connecting membersare arranged to be ti1table out of engagement with the frame crosswiseto the direction of thrust to be transmitted so as to becomeinoperative.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim l, in which the connecting membershave cantilever rollers at their lower ends to engage the cooperatingmould members so as to permit an axial movement of the latter Withreference to the connecting members.

4. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising additionalsupporting means for restricting the relative approximation between thecooperating mould members.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim l, in which the mould element isarranged to move with reference to the frame, further comprising rollersfor supporting the mould elements, and means associated with each rollerfor individual- 1y adjusting its height relative to the connectingmembers.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a turningtable, rotatably conneced With the frame the mould element beingarcshaped and supported on the said turning table, further comprising aholt connection between said mould element and said turning tab1e at onepoint and a radially slidable connection between said mould element andsaid turning tab1e at a position diametrically opposite to said holtcounection.

7. An apparatus for casting metal comprising a frame, at least one pairof mould members sup-ported by said frame and arranged cooperating toform a substantially cylindrical mould cavity 0f any cross-section,means for moving at least one of the mould elements in the direction ofthe axis of said cavity with reference to the frame two connectingmembers arranged at opposite sides of the mould members closely adjacentsaid mould members and. connected at their upper ends to said countersupporting means and to straddle said mould members and releasablyconnected at their lower ends to the frame to transmit forces from onemould member to the cooperating mould member, and elastic meanscomprising a Container having collapsible wa11s and filled With fluidunder pressure for pressing the cooperating mould members together.

8. In apparatus for casting metal, a frame, a plurality of mould memberssupported by said frame and arranged to cooperate in constituting amould having a substantially cylindrical mould cavity, a plug or stoppermember closing said cylindrical mould cavity, driving means for carryingsaid plug or stopper member in an axial direction with reference t0 themould cavity, and spring means acting in the same direction forresiliently conneeting said stopper member with said driving means.

9. Apparatus as claimed in c1aim 1, in which the elastic means comprisea collapsible tube filled with a gaseous fluid under pressure.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the elastic means comprisea collapsible body filled With fiuid under pressure and means forventing said body, and. in which the connecting means are arranged.readily to be detachable after venting of the collapsible body.

FRANK VVILLIAM HARBORD. VERNON HARBORD.

